No harm, no foul.
I sell a few coins on Ebay most weeks: mostly key date copper coins like 1877 Indian Heads, 1909-s Indian Heads, 1909-S VDB, 1914-d, 1955 and 1972 Double Lie Lincolns. I sell some "certified" (in slabs) and many more uncertified as I can usually pick up uncertified (and GENUINE) key dates coins at a discount compared to certified coins. Most importantly, I can turn a certified coin around faster than buying an uncertified coin and sending it to a major grading service to be certified.
For certain, I often do not recover the cost of certification of a key date lincoln cent, especially if they are circulated. Let's take the SVDB penny I'm currently auctioning. I would send it to PCGS as they command the highest premium for certified coins. It will cost me $30 to certify and an additional $120 for four additional coins that I currently do not need certified (they require 5 coins minimum). Then the postage for the entire package will run near $25 and the return postage back will cost an additional $30. So to get this coin certified will cost me a little over $200, and I'll wait 4-6 weeks (although I'll get four others certified at the same time). And there is always a chance with PCGS that a nice coin will come back having "environmental damage" (undesirable toning) or "questionable color" (whatever that means).
ANACS will allow me to certify one coin, but the certification carries virtually no premium compared to a raw coin. Early small ANACS holders were from a time period when the grading standards were looser (over graded) and those certified coins are difficult to sell at the stated grade on the holder. I have cracked out many Lincoln pennies that were being held in old ANACS holders and sold them "raw" with a good picture for a premium price. In fact, the 1914-d penny I'm selling along with the SVDB was cracked out of an old ANACS holder!
I've owned many, many dates of each of the coins listed above and have copied, or purchased, every reference material that I have ever found dealing with the peculiar die state of the genuine coins, and the characteristics of the known fakes of each. I've photographed counterfeit coins of each type, some very deceiving ones indeed, and have documented each for reference (Thankfully, all the new Chinese counterfeits are poor reproductions of the genuine examples, but they still fool inexperienced folks every week.)
So I know with a very high degree of confidence that this SVDB is real and I consequently know that I have virtually no risk of having a coin returned to me because it was later found to be a counterfeit. I've been selling on Ebay since 1998 and have never had a coin returned to me that was subsequently found to be a fake.
Lastly, my pictures on Ebay are some of the best you'll find on that site, and I always can take a better picture of a raw coin that one sitting in a plastic holder. The experienced collectors know all the characteristics of a genuine coin, like me, and can discern them from my photos. Plus there's always the return privilege (that you rarely find with the guys peddling counterfeits) if you don't like the color, look, or the Wifey finds out what you spent for that penny. All these factors help me sell on Ebay and keep my 100% rating.
Hope that helps clarify my position.
